Does a "GSM" cell phone work with any carrier?

Question

I have Suncom as my cell phone provider. THe woman on the phone said that in order to guarantee that a phone that I buy online works with Suncom, that I need to make sure it's a Suncom phone and not any other provider. My question is: does any GSM work with any provider 100% of the time, or was she being honest when she said there's a chance that it may not work. I'd think any GSM phone would work period. If anybody out there knows what they're talking about, please help me out. thanks!

Answer 1

Hi Josh,

GSM phones will only work on GSM networks. So your phone will not work on U.S. Cellular, Verizon, Sprint or any other CDMA network. Other than that, much of how a GSM phone works and how the mobile number and serial number is stored is in the SIM card. While many carriers test phones for their network, some times phones purchased from one carrier will work on another, however many carriers frown upon this since they cannot guarantee service for handsets that they test themselves and supply to their customers. Also, some phones have features that are carrier specific and may not work on another carrier.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Make sure your unlocked phone (and make sure its UNLOCKED) is GSM and runs on 850 and 1900 mhz. That is Suncom's frequency. As long as you have those requirements met, you are good to go. You can check to see if the phone you like is compatible by going to www.phonescoop.com or www.gsmarena.com they both have the statistics of most GSM phones.